I drove up to Palisade today to meet Tyler and our mutual friend Scott for climbing. Minus the construction (which has grown to ridiculous proportions in MN this summer), it started off gorgeous. The climbs were dry, we were the only climbers out there (there were a lot of tourists, but there's always lots of tourists with lots of questions), and I felt pretty loose and good today. I slapped a bunch of sunscreen on right away and warmed up on a couple routes before tackling Mr. Lean again.
It didn't go as well as I wanted- I messed up my sequence, and fell at the crux. Stupid mistake, stupid fall, but luckily I'm at that magical point where it is GOING to happen. Just not today. After Mr. Lean we began to slow down, finally noticing that we all felt like we were slowly being cooked alive. To fix this, we ran down to one of the rivers that feeds into Lake Superior to dive in and enjoy cooler waters to rejuvenate. After ice cream for motivation, we jumped right bcak on the rock on Oz- my first 5.12 on the shore. Oz- originally an aid climb called "The Road to Emerald City"- is a 175-ft behemoth of powerful, pumpy moves at the bottom before jumping into 65 feet of slightly overhanging finger crack before moving to a slightly bleak corner to the top. I decided to rap down and at least start working the finger crack, since Scott and Tyler both said I should be able to pull the moves. The crack was actually good- better finger locks than Mr. Lean, just super pumpy for the overhang and close to no feet. I fell a couple of times, but at least the crack part is completely within my ability. Maybe clean that (pitches 2 and 3) by fall, then link the whole climb next summer? Lofty project. :)
I unfortunately ended the day with a very red back, despite 3 applications of sun screen. I'm sick of burning every time I climb on a sunny day, even with tons of sunscreen. Damn Scandinavian skin.
Good thing from this weekend is being able to finish the first sleeve of the Vivian, and I'm already halfway through the second sleeve.
It helps that sleeves are portable- I have a feeling once I connect this whole thing together it's going to become a stay-at-home project, or one that I save for knitting nights or movie nights. Once I link it I'm going to be starting a bunch of hats for my portable projects, since the list of requests has gotten very long recently.All right, off to bed. Time to dream of the sequence on Mr. Lean, for the send... left hand fingerlock undercling... next week... right hand high reach to a lock... SUNDAY or MONDAY... ;)
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